I’m not overly a fan of baked beans, but I do love these. Please note the first recipe is for dried beans, which are much cheaper using slow/pressure cooker. Below that is a recipe for ready-cooked beans. You can use haricot or cannellini or small white beans.

This is what you need

1 onion, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

500g small white beans, rinsed and picked over (I’m not sure what for, mine were all fine).

1 litre of water

125ml strong black coffee (I used a big tablespoon of instant espresso powder which I keep for making coffee cakes, dissolved in 125ml of hot water)

250ml passata

55g-110g dark brown sugar (100g is what the recipe calls for but we all find it a bit sweet now so do experiment. I’ve made it with half this and will probably reduce further)

1 tablespoon of English mustard

1 tablespoon of black treacle

half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

1 and a half teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of white or cider vinegar (for the very end, I have left it out and tbh it was fine)

What you do

If you have a pressure/slow cooker which allows you to saute, put this function on, heat up the oil then add the onion and cook until soft – about five mins. If yours doesn’t have this function do this bit on the stove top in a frying pan/saucepan.

When soft, add the garlic and cook for a minute.

Now, either add the rest of the ingredients, minus the vinegar to the pot of your pressure/slow cooker, or now tip the onions/garlic into your pressure/slow cooker and then add the rest of the ingredients (minus the vinegar).

Select pressure cook 80kPa, natural steam release and cook for 35-40 mins or select slow cooker mode for 10-12 hours on low.

When time is up, add the vinegar and you need to reduce the sauce right down until it’s syrupy – either in the pressure/slow cooker if you have a reduce function or decant into a large sauce pan and do it the traditional way. Mine took 20 mins.

Update January 2021. I have since made these with a squirt of Liquid Smoke from Sous Chef which was amazing. I’ve upped the time to 35-40 mins as I really don’t think 30-35 was enough time!

Making using ready cooked beans

It’s not easy to find dried beans where I live so I now make this recipe using these beans. They are not cheap but it’s what I use and it makes a vat of baked beans and the beans are very fine.

Jar of 700g of ready cooked white beans (I use these), use all the liquer in the jar as well. You can of course use beans in tins too!

1 onion, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

100ml strong black coffee (I used a big tablespoon of instant espresso powder which I keep for making coffee cakes, dissolved in 125ml of hot water)

250ml passata

80g dark brown sugar (you can alter to taste this is what I use)

1 tablespoon of English mustard

1 tablespoon of black treacle

half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

1 and a half teaspoons of salt

1.5 tablespoon of white or cider vinegar (you put this in at the very end, but I often forget it and it’s really fine!)

Use a slow cooker or a regular big pot on the hob. Gently soften the onion in the olive oil, then add the garlic, then tip everything else in – not the vinegar – including all the thick liquid that comes with your beans.  Give everything a good stir and either put in the slow cooker on low for 2 hrs or so or on a low hob. I’m sure they’d be fine after an hour, too. Reduce if you like it really thick but I find this is perfect. 

Here’s a 2024 picture, served with home made seeded sourdough.